Today’s Teenager Podcast Episode

In this first of a series of micro episodes designed to offer quickly - digestible insight on a range of topics, Roy offers tips for effectively and compassionately disciplining teens. Roy's strategies include asking teens what they feel are appropriate disciplinary actions and making sure that correctional techniques [...]

In this micro episode, Roy addresses how social media impacts the mental health of today's teenagers. Roy focuses on how social media apps like Snapchat and Instagram affect dopamine production and dependence in the brain. Roy also discusses how social media curbs proficiency in recognizing verbal and non [...]

In this episode, Roy further addresses how anxiety affects young people, especially their spiritual life. Roy offers tips for helping teens who struggle with anxiety, including less technology, more social interaction with friends and family, and avoiding transferring anxiety to teens. Roy has established Today's Teenager as a [...]

In this episode, Roy addresses the surprising phenomenon of teens putting off getting their driver's licenses. Roy shares from his own experience working with teens as a counselor and from his interaction with teens and adult through speaking. The prevailing trend is that more and more teens avoiding [...]

In this episode, Roy discusses the struggle many adults have when working with teens: reacting instead of responding to their behavior. Roy builds on Dr. Steven Covey's observation that humans have a gap between a stimulus and response and that this gap can be widened through forethought and [...]

In this episode, Roy explores the surprising way that anxiety manifests among many teens today: perfectionism. The teen who has to do most things absolutely perfectly, like homework with little point value or getting upset when not making a perfect score on a test are teens struggling with [...]

In this episode, Roy explores a form of depression that many adults are unaware young people are experiencing: existential depression. This type of depression is often a of psychological and spiritual experiences in which matters of life and death, freedom, intimacy, and ultimate meaning weigh heavily on a [...]

In this episode, Roy addresses one of the greatest sources of anxiety for teens today: the pursuit of an unhealthy and often unconscious definition of success. Roy uses the example of teens who suffer panic attacks after failing tests to address what grades and performance really mean [...]

As Roy explains in this episode, more and more teens are having difficulty regulating their emotions. Being “emotional” and having a roller coaster of feelings is a normal part of being a teenager. Yet many teens experience this intensity at unhealthy levels and for extended lengths of time. [...]

It’s easy to see how one could assume that today's youth doesn’t care as much as teens once did. Over the years, Roy has discovered several, at times overlapping, reasons teens become apathetic. Many parents and other adults will comment or complain that teens don't care about school, [...]